alright, 2 of my very dear friends have hepatitis c. they both have pretty cruddy lifestyle habits and lately have been pretty down n depressed. what can i do to help them cope with their problems? i'm tryin to find ways i can empathize with them and make them feel better. any suggestions?

Hi Breezy,
I think, its individual. I personally generally did not inform my friends about my illness. Only two of them - and my wife, of couse. But to me was (and still is) very important, that my friends were acting as "nothing happened". To me sounds "charity" as a bad idea. I am afraid, that when people tell me "Oh... poor you!", I will get used to it, and later I will accept the idea of "beeing poor".

One friend of mine (single girl with 2 babies) say: "You cannot collapse, having no time to collapse." That means - if you have to take care of two childs, you have no time for your personal problems.

Well, it is not "general truth" - but I would say, that the world is working something like that.

Petr